Water safety, the unresolved issue

The inconvenient truth

Securing the quality of water is a basic requirement for everyone in the water supply chain. As regulatory requirements get more stringent every day, controlling the bacteriological quality of water has become a serious challenge, especially in hospitals, schools or institutions where there is an increased dependency on the availability of a supply of safe water.

The operating conditions of POU (Point-Of-Use) applications imply specific requirements which must be taken into account when designing bacteriological treatment systems. Water standing still for extended periods of time, combined with the use of filters and an unknown supply quality lead to the contamination of water by bacteria and biofilm.

The point of use which is, by definition, at the end-point of the water network depends upon the quality of the initial treatment of water and of the network itself. Today, 40% of worldwide water networks are known to be unsafe. The intermittent operation of POU (Point of Use) systems make them ideal breeding grounds for the development of biofilm in piping.

Chemical pollutants are eliminated by active-carbon filters. There filters are inexpensive and easy to implement, they are an important step in the processing of water. However, despite their usefulness, they are an ideal growth substrate for the development of bacteria.

Standard UV systems have inherent limitations when faced with point-of-use requirements:
- They are not efficient against bacteria clusters
- They usually do not include UV monitoring, or at a very high cost
- Their lifetime is limited, especially in On/Off conditions
- If they are operated 24x7, they turn nitrates into nitrites, they waste energy and uselessly warm the water

Currently available solutions do not provide a comprehensive approach to the problem, and do not provide optimal safety against these risks.